Machine vision distributor and vendor spotlight: Acroname

To provide our readers with much information onhow to obtain the right technology for their application as possible, we are profiling major machine vision and image processing distributors from across the globe.

In this article, Justin Gregg , CEO and Principal Engineer ofAcroname, discusses a potential big shift in the machine vision industry, 3DTime of Flight technology, modular manufacturing test systems, and more.

Company name:Acroname, Inc.
Headquarters: Boulder, CO, USA
Year founded: 1994
Regions served: Worldwide
Products carried:Automation sensors and manufacturing test automation control
Companies carried: Acroname, Hokuyo, Fotonic, Lightware, Terabee, Devantech, Sharp

How have market changes and customer demands changed the way that you’ve approached business?

The products offered by Acroname address many different markets, and recent changes in different markets are changing our business in interesting ways. In manufacturing test systems, we are seeing a surprising growth in small hardware startups looking to bring their products to market. Acroname’s scalable approach to manufacturing test systems is immediately appealing to these customers, and we’re now seeing strong sales growth from our manufacturing test modules and programmable USB hubs.

Time-of-flight (ToF) based distance measurement systems, especially 3D ToF cameras like those from Fotonic, are still searching for a high-volume killer application. The most obvious application is in consumer smartphones or other portable computing platforms. As soon as these see inclusion in a high-volume application, we will see a quick price drop, which will open up their wide adoption across many different industries.

As it is now, the high-end ToF camera systems will remain relegated to industrial applications. Lower-cost, single point measurement systems, like those from Terabee and Lightware, are seeing a strong acceptance in the unmanned aerial and ground vehicle markets (UAV and UGV). The robustness, high-speed and incredible precision of these products continues to drive integrations into these mobile platforms. In some jurisdictions, use of such sensors as altimeters in UAVs may even become required by regulation. In the meantime, scanning laser ranger finders, also known as LIDARs, like those from Hokuyo, remain the “go to” products for UGVs and industrial, distance-augmented vision systems due to their lower-cost, long range and simple data streams.

In what areas do you see the most growth?

By far the biggest growth is in manufacturing and other test automation applications. Companies both large and small are realizing that their test systems using wire-wrap construction and mechanical relays remain decades behind modern solid-state, fully-SMT electronics.

Many of these companies are looking to take innovative approaches to their manufacturing test systems in order to reduce their cost and the time required to setup a manufacturing process. Acroname is at the forefront of this shift from “big iron” test systems to modular, microprocessor-based test systems. Our manufacturing test modules (MTM) and programmable USB hubs are enabling drastically reduced capital investment, faster manufacturing scaling, and better test coverage for several of the top consumer electronics manufacturers.

What is your take on the current state of the machine vision market?

Machine vision, specifically 3D machine vision, is poised for a monumental shift due to:

• The rapid improvement of binocular 3D camera systems
• Consolidation or termination of many of the ToF sensor manufacturers (Panasonic, Heptagon/Mesa, Sony/SoftKinetics)
• Growing consumer adoption of always-on camera-based interfaces in electronics
• Novel uses of 3D machine vision in human-computer interfaces, games, reality, UAV/UGV, and other non-industrial markets

Is there a particular trend or product in the next few years that you see as “the next big thing?”

Extremely low-cost (below $100) 3D ToF camera systems, especially ones integrated into a consumer-targeted computing platform.

What camera type do you think will be most popular in two years and why?

The camera interface is irrelevant when these systems are integrated into a consumer electronic device. Consumers are not interested in “hacking” together a machine vision system, regardless of the interface. They want something that adds value to their lives, likely through fluid, seamless, and intuitive user interactions and interfaces.

You are a distributor, but you also develop your own products. What types of products do you develop, and why?

In the past, we developed robotic platforms and automation controllers for robotics. This migrated to development of custom engineered manufacturing test automation controllers and integrated systems.

Using our BrainStem™ technology, originally developed to make modular robotic systems, allowed our customers to reduce their capital equipment costs by over 90% and scale their manufacturing process faster than they ever had previously. Through these custom developments, we have recognized a significant opportunity for innovation in the test automation space.

Do you have any exciting new product releases on the horizon?

Our customers continue to rave about our programmable USB hub. They are using it in manufacturing environments which benefit from the ±30kV ESD protection, but also in automated software regression test systems in their labs. The two main requests have been for more downstream ports and USB3 support. The next version builds on these requests with:

• 8 downstream ports
• A dedicated downstream daisy-chain port
• An optional separate upstream USB control interface
• Full USB3.1 gen 1 support
• Better current and voltage measurement precision
• The same simple high-level programming APIs in C++ and Python

View more information onAcroname.

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